WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has sparked controversy by claiming that Pakistan is among countries “testing nuclear weapons”, alongside Russia, China, and North Korea, during an interview on CBS News’ programme ‘60 Minutes’.
In his remarks, Trump said he did not want the United States to be the only country that doesn’t conduct nuclear tests, insisting that others were secretly continuing them. “North Korea has been testing. Pakistan has been testing. […] But they don’t go and tell you about it,” he asserted.
The comments came after Trump recently ordered the US Department of War to “immediately” resume nuclear testing, a directive that has caused confusion in Washington over whether he was referring to the country’s first nuclear explosion since 1992 or simulated testing.
When questioned during the interview about the need to resume testing, Trump responded, “You have to see how they work. Testing is because Russia announced they are going to do a test. Other countries are testing — we are the only country that doesn’t test.”
When the interviewer pointed out that Russia and China have not conducted nuclear explosions since the 1990s, Trump insisted, “Russia is testing, and China is testing — but they don’t talk about it. Pakistan has been testing, too.”
He claimed that countries conduct underground tests that remain undetected. “They test way underground where people don’t know exactly what’s happening with the test. You feel a little bit of a vibration,” Trump added, suggesting that global powers, including Pakistan, conduct hidden experiments.
Trump further argued that the United States must follow suit. “This just doesn’t make sense. You make nuclear weapons and then you don’t test. How are you gonna know if they work? We have to do that,” he said.
When the interviewer countered that US experts believe “America doesn’t need to test because its weapons are already the best in the world,” Trump replied, “According to me, we have the best. I renovated them and built them during my four-year period.”
He added, “If other people are gonna have them, we are gonna have to have them. And if we have them, we have to test them. Otherwise, you don’t really know how they are gonna work.”
The Pakistani Foreign Office has yet to respond to Trump’s allegations, which come amid heightened sensitivity over nuclear stability in South Asia.
Meanwhile, China strongly denied Trump’s claim that it conducts nuclear tests. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Beijing has always acted as a “responsible nuclear-weapons state” and abided by its commitment to suspend nuclear testing.
She urged the United States to “take concrete actions to safeguard global disarmament and non-proliferation efforts”, warning against rhetoric that could undermine international stability and strategic balance.
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